Fifty Years of Field Trips

2010 marks the 50th year of school programs at Winterthur. To celebrate, we’re posting photos from the early years of field trips to the museum and memories of past visits.

Read what others have shared, browse the photos to see how Winterthur (and fashion!) has changed, and join in the celebration by sharing your own memories of visiting Winterthur as a school kid. Whether you were here in the 1960s or visited just yesterday, we want to hear from you!

School Programs Gallery

Shared Memories

Unforgettable Visit
It was early spring 1961, and our American history class was on a trip to Winterthur Museum. The school bus pulled up to the entrance, and we all lined up for the tour. My clearest memories of that day are of the New England Kitchen, with its large open fireplace, collection of hearth cooking tools, and dark beams; and a beautiful sitting room, filled with yellow upholstered furniture. Looking back, I think we must have been in Port Royal Parlor. It was a school trip that I never forgot and that I often think about as I walk through the rooms today. I was in 8th grade at Stanton Junior High at the time, and our teacher was Bruce deNagy. So, I guess I can credit him with introducing me to Winterthur. – Susan Moqtaderi, Winterthur staff member

Memoirs of a Current Guide
In the late '70's and early 80's, I took my 8th grade students from Richardson Park and, after deseg, Conrad Middle to Winterthur every year. We had a team approach and spent half the day at Winterthur and half at Delaware Natural History Museum. I loved the rooms set up in a historical sequence which helped my students visually see the changes as time passed. Each student had an area of "everyday life" to report on such as lighting houses, cleaning, beds, children's activities, etc. Winterthur always jumped right in to address any questions. When I was transferred to a high school setting to teach government, I was sad Winterthur no longer fit my curriculum. After I retired from teaching and became a school program guide here, you can imagine the delight when I met one of my favorite guides from back then, Dorcas Taylor, still on the job. Winterthur is such fun, no wonder guides stay for years!!

A Meeting of Two WorldsWe were hosting Project Stay Free here at the museum, which is a court-mandated program to keep at-risk youth out of jail. We had planned a tour of the house, and I had just entered Webb Hall with the young people. A tour was exiting, and it happened to be a group of Amish folks, dressed in their traditional garb. The look on the faces of the students was priceless. One of the boys said, “Yo! Are you Amish?” The Amish gentleman said, “Yes.” And the student said, “You dress like that every day?” And the Amish gentleman and the student smiled and nodded to each other. It was a meeting of two worlds. – Paula Ballard, Winterthur School Programs

Magic Words
A few years ago, I was guiding a group of students on a Wonder and Wander program. Having successfully wandered to and from Enchanted Woods, we reached the Dorrance Gallery, which you enter through a pair of automatic glass doors. Before we got close enough for the doors to open, I asked the kids to suggest a few magic words we could say to make them open for us. Expecting “Shazaam,” or “Abracadabra,” or something similar, I was very much surprised when one little girl spoke up with “please and thank you.” Those, of course, are the best magic words of all! – Lois Stoehr, School Programs, 2007